Dragonball: The RPG
by nickarn22
Summary: Being given the choice of a new life or just disappearing, Kaley chose the latter. Or at least that's what he tried to do. After an encounter with a bored divinity and an impulsive wish, Kaley is reincarnated in the world of DBZ.
1. Rain

Kaley's father, once a hard-working and kind man, changed when he got laid off at work, the factory declaring bankruptcy.

With the pressure of feeding his 6-year-old child and pregnant wife, he, like many before him, took to drinking. Yelling at Kaley in his stupor.

Kaley's mother, on the other hand, was always nice to Kaley. Always with a kind smile and gentle eyes.

While first, it was just coming home late from the pub, it soon escalated. Coming home, dead drunk, groping Kaley's mother and then screaming at her when she told him off.

This routine went on for weeks. His parents argued a lot. Accusations of cheating were frequent as their relationship soured further.

As weeks turned into months, their arguments also turned physical. His mother also seemed to smile less and less.

It was right around when Kaley turned 7 that he first saw his father slapping his mom, flinging her across the room with the force of the blow. She started crying, holding her swollen stomach in pain.

The ambulance had to come to take her away, his father giving the excuse that she'd fallen down.

Something seemed to break inside his mother that day.

Along with the swelling in her stomach, her gentle eyes, and smile were gone. In their stead was now a cold face and frigid eyes, even whilst looking at Kaley.

Soon after that, his mother left. Kaley watched, as his mother's back disappeared in the curtain of rain, not once looking back.

That day, Kaley's world, previously so colorful, went grey.

His eyes, once so full of wonder, now dull and lifeless.

It was a dreary day in the London slums, the rain sizzled down, gathering in the gutters filled with litter and refuse.

Walking down the street, Kaley felt in tune with nature. He liked the rain, how it dulled the sounds of the mundane, washing everything anew.

Everything could be forgotten, if you just lost yourself in its sound.

No matter what had happened, the rain always helped, dulling his emotions along with the sounds.

Taking a detour of a few blocks, Kaley kept on walking, picking a path through the maze-like alleyways, filled with strewn garbage and thrown newspapers. The few people he passed kept to themselves, their coats buttoned up and umbrellas kept low, covering their faces. No doubt eager to get out of the downpour.

He liked taking his time walking home, especially when it was raining.

There was just something about a rain-soaked London that felt right.

Playing with his phone as he walked, Kaley heard a low sound, barely perceptible. Looking around trying to locate the sound, his eyes fell on a cardboard box, haphazardly thrown against the nearby dumpster. Putting his phone back into his pocket, he briskly walked over.

Squatting next to the box, he lifted it up a bit. What greeted him was 3 small kittens, black and white in coloring. They were huddled together, shivering in the cold.

"Were you guys abandoned too?" Kaley asks in a soft tone, a sad look in his eyes.

"Meow!" An adult cat with a mouse in its mouth appears beside the kittens, shielding them from Kaley.

"Okay, okay! Calm down."

Putting his hands up in an unarming gesture, he stands and backs away a few steps studying the new arrival. Judging solely by its color, the cat was not their parent. Brown speckled with grey mixed in, a white mark between the eyes.

"I have just the thing, wait a sec."

He says and put his pack on the ground, opening the zipper.

Quite used to finding abandoned kittens, Kaley always carries around a can or two of cat food.

Opening and leaving a can behind for the kittens, Kaley moved on.

'Ding' Taking out his phone and unlocking it, he sees the notification he just got. A new message.

Opening it, he gets a shock. The sender was the girl sitting beside him in class, Claire Beckett.

She had been helping him with subjects he wasn't as adept in for the past year.

It read. "Wanna hang out this weekend and look over the homework for next week?"

As one of the few people he could tolerate, he quite liked Claire. Although her outlook on life was radically different than his own, her absurdly positive attitude and bubbly personality made her hard to dislike. It was like she had this aura of light around her, making the shadows lighter and colors more vibrant.

"Sure! What time?" He quickly sent a message back and prepared to cross the street, looking both ways.

'ding'

"What about Sunday, noon? My mum is having her monthly baking day on Saturday. Which also means we'll have lots of snacks for the homework."

A smile suffusing his pale face, he started typing as he crossed the road.

"Sounds like a date! See ya then." Just as he sent the last message, Kaley heard a swerving screech. Looking up he was met with the view of the front bumper of a truck, not three meters in front of him.

It hit him like a literal truck, sending him flying about 20 meters, blood flying everywhere.

Surprisingly there was no pain, only numbness.

As he lay there staring into the sky, rain wetting his face, a wry smile came unbidden to his face.

"I really like rain." That was his last thought as his eyes glazed over, blackness consuming him.

 **[ GAME OVER! YOU DIED ]**


	2. Those Left Behind 1: Grief

The rain clattered against the windowpanes, as the weak evening light suffused through the curtains of the small room. Inside, the color white was prevalent, the wallpapers a pearly white, partly covered with pictures of different idols. A fluffy white carpet covered about a third of the oaken floorboards.

Stuffed animals were everywhere. On the dresser, the desk, and on the queen size bed. They came in every possible color and make, making the otherwise utilitarian room feel lived in.

If you disregarded the bed, the room was otherwise very tidy. The neat desk equipped with a mirror and a stuffed teddy. School textbooks lay in a neat pile next to an opened girl's magazine.

The sound of cheerful humming could be heard, as a girl in her teens, sporting a dog onesie PJ and fluffy slippers, put her phone down on the bedside table. Turning to the bed, she busied herself, picking clothes among the myriad of different styles and cuts lying there. Practically dancing, with a brilliant smile, she was holding them up and comparing them, checking them against herself in the mirror.

The girl was around 155cm tall, with pale skin. Although she had a lithe figure and her chest was on the smaller size, she didn't mind it. Definitely not. Not even a little, okay. Her shoulder-length red hair, hanging loosely, framed her freckled, oval face perfectly. With her big sky-blue eyes, sculptured eyebrows, petite nose, and full lips, she was considerably popular among her peers.

Although she knew the effect she had on males her age, she didn't flaunt it, preferring to dress conservatively.

It was different now, though. She was having that Osmium blockhead over in two days, and she wanted to look her best. Planning her outfit was the most basic of the basics, at least according to the magazine she bought.

A sudden ache came over her chest, startling her. It was like her heart was being squeezed painfully.

Tears threatened to pour down her cheeks as the phantom hand squeezed her heart.

The feeling went away as soon as it came, so she dismissed the strange sensation, summing it up as just another weird feeling she got when thinking of that blockhead.

With a nod and a brilliant smile, she settled on the outfit she would wear.

Breaking away from the mirror, a determined expression on her face, she skipped over to the desk, grabbing the magazine. Throwing herself on the bed, she continued reading the article where she had left off. Titled "How to catch your man in 4 easy steps, the dense Edition!", it was just what she needed.

When she got to step 3, her face flushed a crimson red. It read: "Step 3: Be direct! You need to be assertive. Be aggressive and ask him out first. Seduce him!" the scandalous words were too much for her young, inexperienced mind.

With the magazine over her face, she kept rolling around on the bed, squealing. Warm feelings were suffusing her entire body and she had a foolish grin on her face.

'Brrrr, brrrr, brrrr'

After about half an hour, her rolling was interrupted as her phone started vibrating.

Crawling over to the bedside table with the magazine in one hand, she picked up her phone, unlocking it.

Checking the caller-id, she noted with a frown that it was a secret number.

It was odd. She had opted out of getting calls from advertisers, so she didn't think it was one of those. She took a moment to study the screen, her face in a thoughtful frown. Seemingly deciding it on a whim, she pressed the green button.

It was clear the caller was currently outside. You could hear the heavy rain in the background, dulling the sounds of people shouting, accompanied by the occasional siren. Sounds not unusual to urban London.

"Yes, hello?"

"Ahh, it finally connected." A gruff, masculine voice sounded out of the receiver, startling the girl.

"Is this Ms. Claire Beckett that I'm speaking wi... Hey, watch where you're going, you daft shithead!"

The voice turned distant as it shouted out expletives and what sounded like orders.

The girl, Claire, was surprised. The caller was looking for her specifically.

"Sorry about that, ma'am. So where was I... Ahh, right! This is Ms. Claire Beckett, correct?"

Slightly confused at this silly person calling her, she answered hesitantly.

"Umm, yes?"

"Ahh good! I was afraid the number was incorrect, Sarge would have my arse. Anyway, Ms. Beckett, I'm deputy Charles Wilson with the LMP. You should probably sit down for what I'm about to tell you."

A very ominous feeling came over Claire, as she sprung to her feet.

Neither her older brother nor her parents were home yet, and it was past the time they usually did.

Her brother usually came home around 7 pm, often practicing with his band. Her parents were normally home by 5 pm, having normal 9 to 5 jobs. It was currently 19:45 and she was alone in the house.

Glistening tears were starting to gather in the corners of her eyes, threatening to come pouring down at the slightest provocation.

"Did something happen to my parents or my brother?! Were they in an accident?"

She practically screamed at the phone, startling the deputy.

"Umm n-no, Miss. I'm calling about someone else."

Visibly relaxing, Claire let out a breath of relief, giving the deputy the go-ahead for his news. Her relief, however, was a preciously shortlived one.

"Actually, Miss, I'm calling in regards to a Mr. Kaley Spencer. I'm very sorry to inform you, Miss, that Mr. Spencer passed away in an MVA earlier this evening. A truck driver hit him head-on as he was crossing the road. As you were the only ICE contact in his phonebook, it was put on me to inform you." Deputy Wilson paused, waiting for a response. When all he got was silence, he continued with his terrible duty. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss, Ms. Beckett. I don't presume to know what your relationship with Mr. Spencer was, but you were obviously a very important person to him, I hope you'll bear this in mind moving forward. I hope you have a good evening, ma'am. As good as you can, at least, and stay safe." Still not getting a response, Deputy Wilson hung up the phone with a sigh, letting the poor girl process the news in peace.

Claire stood there completely still, frozen in time. With the sound of the phone hanging up, the time, which seemingly stopped, started moving again.

Having dropped both the magazine and the phone, her mind was slowly processing the phone call.

Tears began running unabated down her cheeks, her pupils rapidly dilating and shrinking.

Wrapping her arms around herself, her body subtly shaking, she looked as if trying to contain herself within them. Lips quivering, a lump began growing in her throat.

It wasn't long until the first heartrending sob ripped itself out of her throat. Sinking down to the floor, with her legs having lost their strength, she cried. Screaming out her pain, she produced ragged hiccups between the throes of her sobs.

Somewhere in the middle, she found a pair of arms embracing her. Attempting to console the inconsolable.

After some time, she ran out of tears. Feeling empty and ragged, she fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.

Early morning light diffused through the curtains, illuminating the room within.

Its white colors looked bleak. Like the colors had washed out after too many times in the washing machine. The room looked like a battlefield. A very messy battlefield.

Clothes lay strewn all over the dust-covered floor, a few plates and cups cluttered together on the desk.

'Beep beep beep beep'

The sheets stirred slightly, as the invading sound interrupted the sweet dreams of the person inhabiting them. A groan escaped the nondescript lump on the bed, curling up, as the hateful sound continued.

"Claire! You need to wake up!" A female voice sounded from downstairs, prompting the sleeping person to awaken.

Another groan escaped the lump, as an arm stretched out of the lump monster, turning the alarm off.

"Five more minutes..." With these words, the blanket dweller promptly turned over.

Half an hour later, footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs, approaching the door of the dungeon.

Slamming the door open, the boss monster entered. Dressed in her trademark battle attire: Jeans and shirt battle apron, she stomped over to the lump of blankets, ripping them off.

"Nooo, my blankets! You demon."

Aggrieved at the heinous crime just committed against her, the girl complained.

The woman looked the girl over, noting the matted, greasy red hair and red, puffy eyes.

"Really, Claire, look at yourself and this room. Filthy and disgusting, both of them. You need to get yourself together, dear. Now get up, you need to be ready to go in one hour. I thought this was important to you."

Those words made the unwilling girl immediately wake up. Practically jumping out of bed, she shot out of the room, heading for the bathroom.

"That girl." With a gentle smile and a shake of her head, Mrs. Beckett headed back downstairs.

45 minutes later, Claire came down the stairs. Dressed in hip-hugging, blue jeans, a white off-the-shoulder top with flowing sleeves and a pair of heeled strappy sandals, she looked the image of a cute teenager going on a date.

Her mother, dressed in her own black dress, looked her over.

"You gonna wear that, honey? It's not exactly traditional."

Unperturbed by her mother's words she continued to the hallway, donning her coat.

"I am."

With a sigh, Mrs. Beckett put her own coat on and picked up her umbrella.

"Let's get going, better not keep your father and Rick waiting"

Offering an arm to the younger woman, the two women walked together out the door, locking it behind themselves.


	3. The Embrace Of the Void

**[ GAME OVER! YOU DIED ]**

 **[ NEW HIGH SCORE ACHIEVED: 7000pts**

 **POINT BREAKDOWN:**

 **Hard Mode Activated, Point gain x2**

 **Positive Karma: 70 (2800pts)**

 **Unfilial (-500pts)**

 **Years survived: 15 (300pts)**

 **Friends: 1 (200pts)**

 **People in love with you: 1 (700pts)**

 **Misc: 35 (3500pts) ]**

 **[ CONTINUE Y/N? ]**

What met Kaley as he regained consciousness, was these weird boxes. Besides that, there wasn't really anything else there. Nothing but a vast, black void, stretching as far as he could see.

It enveloped him on all sides, giving him a warm feeling akin to being cradled in his mother's arms.

Feeling nostalgically comfortable, he just closed his eyes and drifted for a while.

An undetermined amount of time later, Kaley's eyes refocused and took in the boxes in front of him.

Previously he hadn't really registered the messages in the box, preferring to just bask in this feeling.

Pointedly ignoring the message about his score, as he was in no way interested how poorly he'd lived, he checked out the last box.

"A game?" Kaley tilted his head as he studied it.

"What happens if I click 'N', will I just disappear, completely erased from existence?"

Rubbing his chin, he contemplated his choice. There wasn't really much to consider though. With frequent beatings from his deadbeat father, bullying throughout his school years, and overall general misery, his life had really been less than stellar.

People also tended to shy away from him. It was like he had some incurable disease. Well, the shying away part was fine. He didn't really like to interact with others.

He also quite liked this void, it was.. nice.

"I've pretty much had it with this whole existing thing anyway. No need to go for round two."

And with those words, he pressed 'N'.

He thought something would happen at that, but all it did was remove the box.

Looking down on himself, he found that his body was in fact still there, fully solid, albeit still naked.

"Well, that was anticlimactic."

With a sigh, Kaley closed his eyes and continued to drift in the void, cradled in its embrace.

Time was hard to tell in this place. You didn't feel hunger or fatigue, only a deepening calm.

But after what Kaley thought was close to a week, a new box appeared with its trademark 'ding', prompting him to open his eyes.

 **[ CONTINUE Y/N? ]**

Perplexed at why this would pop up again, Kaley just stared at it. Despite his inability to actually do anything here, he was quite content with just drifting along.

So again, his slightly transparent finger went up to the 'N', clicking it.

"Wait, transparent?! When did this happen?" Kaley exclaimed as he started to panic.

Flailing his arms around and hurling curses at this insidious game, Kaley was interrupted by another 'ding'.

 **[ Soul Erosion Engaged... STANDBY ]**

"W-what? That d-doesn't sound like a good thing." Now slightly nervous, Kaley eyed the ominous message, followed by another 'ding'.

 **[ COMMENCING IN... 3 ]**

"W-wait a minute! Stop, stop, stop!"

His cries fell on deaf ears as the system counted down, eyes watching in rapt horror as it did.

 **[ 2... ]**

"I was wrong, okay. I want to live now!" He cried, regretting his choice. This was definitely not gonna be a pleasant experience.

 **[ 1... ]**

Resigned to his fate, he closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face.

"Maybe it won't be painful. Maybe it will just be an intensified feeling of before."

Hopeful of his own speculation, the system counted down.

 **[ 0... COMMENCING ]**

Expecting something on the scale of a hellish fire melting his body or a black hole swallowing him, the truth was far more horrendous.

Where there previously was nothing at all, there was now what appeared to be a cloud of white specks surrounding him. A closer look showed him their true visage, tiny insect-like creatures, straight out of a nightmare.

The cloud closed on him, gathering around his legs. He futilely tried kicking them away, legs passing through them like smoke. The creatures settled down and starting crawling over his legs, creating an immensely itchy feeling. It was like ants crawling inside and all over your skin. The creatures all paused, akin to the calm before the storm.

"Please, god, not like this. Not like this!"

Fervently praying, he wished for all of this to be nothing but a really f #ked up nightmare. It wouldn't be the first time.

Then, as the creatures started their feast, Kaley learned what real pain was.

Compared to what he was feeling now, the emotional scars of being abandoned and scorned was akin to paper cuts.

No, this was a pain in his very soul. The creatures ripped his soul into smaller, more manageable bite-size pieces, not minding the suffering human.

Soul-piercing screams broke out of his lungs, as Kaley writhed, desperately swatting at his legs.

His nerves a veritable sea of molten fire, he could still make out the crunching sound of bones snapping. Accompanying that, was the sound of ripping flesh, along with his screams, it created a horrific symphony of agony.

A lull in the storm of agony arrived, as the creatures took pause.

Through the mind-numbing pain, Kaley looked down on himself, getting a front-seat look on the horrific play.

The view was something straight out of a horror movie, a pit-filled landscape of bone, muscle, and blood. The skin on his legs completely gone, exposing the red muscle and white bones underneath. Blood dripped in an unending stream into the black void.

He fervently prayed to any and all gods out there, that it was over, knowing full well that it was unlikely. Then the agony returned, doubling its fervor. Thoughts made impossible, Kaley just flailed, screaming his throat hoarse.

After what could have been an eternity, the pain stopped, the creatures taking flight. Disappearing into the void, all that was left behind was a ragged soul with nothing but a head, torso, and arms.

Blank eyes staring into what he perceived as 'up', Kaley just laid there, twitching. The pain long since too much for him to process, yet still making him unable to pass out.

An immeasurable feeling of rage started building inside him, as he heard that hateful sound of the system.

'ding'

 **[ Round 1/3 of** **[Soul_Erosion]** **has been completed... CONTINUE Y/N? ]**


	4. Encounter with a Divinity

'ding'

 **[ Round 1/3 of[Soul_Erosion]has been completed... CONTINUE Y/N? ]**

"Fuuuuuhaaaaaa"

With a deep breath, Kaley did his best to calm down, having questionable success. Taking a look at the box in front of him, he felt the anger rising once more.

"Who the f #k would wanna go through another round of that!"

Shouting at the stupid thing, he thrust his finger at the 'N'. An emotionless female voice sounded out next to his ear, startling him.

 **[ Cancellation request of: [Soul_Erosion] confirmed... Contacting Main_Server. ]**

He snapped his body around, ready to face the person who just spoke. Well, he tried to at least. His balance was off and he had to use his hands as paddles to slowly turn his body. After flailing his arms for about a minute, Kaley somehow managing to fully turn around. He stared with a searching gaze for the owner of the voice not finding anything amiss. He was still alone in this vast, black void.

"Hello? Anyone out there?"

His voice echoed strangely in the space. Just as if it rebounded in a small, enclosed room. The strangeness was lost to Kaley, though.

"Haaaaaa"

With a sigh, he took the advice of the voice and contemplated what he was gonna do now. He obviously couldn't keep floating here. He guessed this place was something close to a rest stop. Somewhere you could take a little breather before continuing your journey, but if you tried staying more permanently well...

The place was like a beautiful venus flytrap. The sweet nectar pulled you in, but death loomed above. Outstay your welcome and pay the price. And Kaley got a thorough taste of what that price entailed. A sudden shudder came over him, as a flash of repressed memories resurfaced. With panic rising within, cold sweat started dripping down his back and his hands got clammy.

"I'm okay. It's over. I'm okay."

Chanting this mantra over and over, he didn't notice the small box as the minutes turned into hours.

'ding'

 **[ Connection to: [Main_Server] established ]**

Hearing the female voice once more, Kaley abruptly awoke from his dazed state. Having a faint guess to what was happening he just waited for the continuation. The voice soon returned, bringing another piece of the puzzle.

 **[ Querying database. PLEASE HOLD ]**

After leaving those words the voice once again went quiet and something suspiciously close to elevator music started playing.

Annoyed and tired at the corporate approach of this 'game', Kaley just waited for it to continue.

 **[ Task completed ]**

 **[ Attribute: [Karmic_Merit] above value [50]. Cancellation of [Soul_Erosion] approved. ]**

Kaley heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed like if you had low Karmic Merit you didn't get a chance to reincarnate. Judging by the 1st round, being forced to go through all three stages of soul erosion really sounded like a fitting punishment for the wicked. He shuddered just thinking of it. He was so done with this afterlife and wanted to start his new one so could forget all about this nightmare.

'ding'

 **[ Welcome to LIFE: The RPG! (Beta) ]**

Out of nowhere the sound of a war drum was heard, beating a steady beat. It was soon followed by a harp playing a certain tune, making Kaley flabbergasted.

"F #k! Isn't this the Morrowind theme? And what's with the 'Beta' tag?"

While speechless at this shameless game, an assortment of instruments starting playing. A fanfare of epic proportions sounded out, reminding him of days long past.

While reminiscing, visions appeared before Kaley's eyes. Scenes out of every walk of life along with familiar scenes out of different games, movies, and animes he'd played or seen. The only thing out of the norm was his own figure inside them. Sometimes a protagonist, other times the antagonist or a supporting character. The visions sped up. A lover, a father, a trader, a doctor, a scientist, a soldier, a general, a King, a God. Every possible scenario played out in front of him and in all of them, he saw himself. What he could be if he just applied himself.

It was like they were all whispering: "This could have been you.", making him tear up.

"What the hell do you know!?"

Clenching his fists tightly he shouted at the game, it's mocking of his life too abhorrent to endure.

Regrets filling him, he swiped his arm across the visions, making them disperse. The music also stopped with their dispersal.

Once again alone in the void, the silence was deafening. Dispelling his foul mood, Kaley took a look at the 'Main Menu' that had been hidden behind the visions.

 **[ New game ]**

 **[ Options ]**

 **[ Save Game ]**

 **[ Load Game ]**

 **[ New Game]**

 **[ Exit (1/3) ]**

Every option except 'New Game' and 'Exit' were greyed out, telling him that there was some way he could enable them. Maybe there were actual savepoints he could find, enabling him to go the save scum route. He obviously couldn't load if there was no saved file. And the 'New Game'... He hypothesized that if his score got high enough he could enable that along with 'Options'.

Pointedly ignoring the 'Exit' option, he clicked on 'New Game'. A new blue box appeared in front of him, covering his entire vision. At the top was his amount of 'Points' along with a few different tabs. His points were somehow higher than he remembered. Maybe he got it wrong.

 **[ Points: 9000 ]**

 **[ Worlds ] [ Abilities ] [ Difficulty: Hard ]**

 **[ Confirm ]**

Clicking on 'Worlds', a massive list appeared. Every option having a colored border and a point cost attached to it.*

Every conceivable world of fiction was there, most being greyed out.

Looking at the list he guessed green border meant unlocked, red border purchasable and grey border was either locked or too few points or both.

The only green option was his old world, titled **[ Mundane world - Mana 0/10, Qi 0/10 ]**

It had a small note saying 'Previously Selected' next to it.

The Mana and Qi parts also had plusses with a point cost next to them. Each increase cost 500.000 points.

Most of the worlds on the list had ridiculous point costs. Ranging from 10s of thousands to several hundred million points. The few worlds with costs below 10,000 were worlds like Berserk, Hellsing, Dark Souls, Bloodborne etc. Those worlds had costs around 500-1000 points, making them suspiciously cheap. Suppressing a shudder, he ignored them. Once again choosing the 'real' world, he switched to the 'Abilities' tab.

There, he was greeted with a long list of ridiculous abilities. It started out quite normal with abilities like **[5% Int gain D] 500pts** and **[Mental Math D] 500pts**. As the point cost grew, so did the ridiculousness of the abilities. Some of the more ridiculous ones were:

 **[Paralell Thinking A] 750.000pts/Thread**

 **[Energy Vision S-] 2.000.000pts**

 **[Photographic Memory S] 4.000.000pts**

 **[Telekinesis SS] 40.500.000pts**

 **[Regeneration SS] 100.000.000pts**

 **[Teleportation: SSS-] 200.000.000pts**

 **[immortality SSS] pts**

 **[Divinity ?] ?pts**

There were plenty of abilities with massive point costs, that he had no idea what they did.

Looking over this list, he felt his score was really way too low. Clicking on the button to hide any abilities he couldn't purchase, the list was dramatically reduced. Checking the various abilities, two particular ones caught his eyes and they both had a weird ranking to them.

 **[Status ? (-?)] 2500pts and [Shop ? (-?)] 5000pts**

If they did what he thought they did, he would be set for life. In his past life, he was just normal, but since there were abilities for purchase with increases to certain attributes they probably got automatically distributed according to his personality and actions. But if he had the 'Status' ability, he would be able to manually distribute them.

The 'Shop' ability spoke for itself. He would be able to access this shop while still alive. Being able to spend the points as he acquired them was definitely overpowered.

Selecting both of them, he changed the tab to the 'Main Menu'. Gritting his teeth, he kept the difficulty at 'Hard' and clicked 'Confirm'.

Another box asking him to confirm his selected appeared. Once again confirming it, all the boxes disappeared, as a brilliant white light enveloped him.

Closing his eyes, Kaley waited for his new life to begin.

'ding'

 **[ Manual Override by [?] initiated. Reincarnation aborted. ]**

With the return of the female voice, the light surrounding him began to fade. When it had faded completely, he was back in the void. Speechless, he looked around, searching for this [?] person so he could give him a piece of his mind.

As he turned around he saw a small white orb floating not more than few meters away from him, pulsating continuously.

 **"Ahem, is this thing on? Testing, testing. 1 2 3, 1 2 3."**

A high pitched voice sounded out, sounding like a young girl. Kaley just stared blankly at the orb, not knowing what to say.

 **"Hey is this thing on or not. Didn't you say this would connect there, Sebastian? Are you treating me like a kid?! Think you can trick me just because Mother is not here, huh?"**

 **"Milady, there's nothing wrong. It is currently transmittin- gefuu!"**

 **"No excuses!"**

Sounds of arguing and what suspiciously sounded like a slap, followed by a distant explosion, came out the orb.

 **"Ahem what was I supposed to say again...? Right!"**

Something was wrong with him. Since the voices started arguing he had this weird feeling.

 **"I knoweth thee can hear me, mortal. This one's name is** ⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ **and we art here to grant thee mine boon. Bow thy head and be greatfu-Ahh! I bit my tongue."**

What was this weird feeling welling up inside him? He wanted to hug the orb and squeeze it to his chest. What the hell was this adorable thing?

Suppressing his impulse he decided to play along. Bowing his head, he spoke reverently to the orb.

"Oh great one, what have I done to deserve such a great honor from one such as yourself?"

 **"G-great one... Umm. Ahem. A-at least thee hath good taste, mortal"**

Sounding slightly flustered the voice spoke again.

 **"T-thou hath entertained us greatly with thy actions, mortal. Thy humorous reactions and thoughts aside, few stayeth sane after experiencing the soul-erosion. Thus this great one shalt grant thee a boon. Speak thy wish and this great one shalt grant it!"**

Wish... What do I wish for? Unbidden to him, the visions from the title screen reappeared in his mind.

Slowly but surely, a wish took form in his mind. Yes, I wish to be the hero for once. A protagonist to surpass all protagonists! Ahh but that would be super troubleso...

 **"Hoh-ho. The protagonist of protagonists, huh? What a big wish thou hath, mortal."**

No no, you need to listen until I fini...

 **"Very well! This great one shalt grant it! Don't regret it later."**

After getting interrupted one again, Kaley sighed and resigned himself to fate.

But really, saying such difficult and archaic words with that voice... Is this the so-called 'gap-moe' spoken of in all those animes? This voice was way too adorable. It was hard containing the squeal building inside him. He never knew he was this kind of person. It was slightly disturbing finding out about this side of him.

 **"R-restrain thy thoughts, i-idiot. This great one is not adorable!"**

A ripple of power shot out, startling Kaley out of his daze. Noticing his train of thoughts having gone off the deep end, Kaley apologized profusely.

"My apologies, oh most wondrous one. And thank you for your gift."

 **"Hohohohohoh. Thee shouldst not thank us, mortal. Thy wish shalt bring thee great suffering."**

Power started gathering at the location of the orb, rippling out. An ominous feeling welled up inside Kaley. Maybe he shouldn't have phrased it quite so.

 **"To be the protagonist to surpass all protagonists, thee must put in the appropriate amount of effort."**

A powerful pressure bore down on him akin to a mountain, pressing him down. As predicted, his feeling was right. He definitely shouldn't have phrased it as he did. The voice sounded almost smug.

 **"Thee shalt have the opportunities needed, along with their dangers. Fate shalt guideth thy hand, mortal. Entertain this great one thoroughly and we might meet again!"**

As the voice finished its words, the power that had gathered around the orb, exploded towards Kaley in a wave of power. If the power he felt before was akin to a firefly, then this one was a sun. Kaley felt truly tiny before this monstrous power coming towards him.

As the wave reached him, it wrapped him up and started spinning with him in the center. A veritable cyclone of divine might.

Hoping it wouldn't obliterate him, Kaley gritted his teeth and let it wash over his soul, drinking it in. The cyclone grew smaller, closer to his body. Once it made contact, the power started entering through his pores, forcing them wide open.

A gasp escaped his mouth, as liquid lightning poured through his veins. Convulsions rocked his body and several 'dings' went off in his head. Pain coursed through his entire body, even the non-existent parts. After the entire cyclone had been absorbed and his body stopped convulsing, Kaley just laid there, gasping for breath. He felt... different. He looked down at his body, instantly breaking out into joyous laughter.

He had legs! And feet! He thought he'd never see them again. Admittedly his body was a lot more transparent now, but at least he had all four limbs! Experimentally he tried moving them and they moved just as normal!

Controlling the impulse to start jumping around, he checked his gains. There were a few new boxes in the air, notifying him of the changes.

 **[ Ability gained: [Past Memories A] ]**

 **[ EX Ability gained: [Protagonist ?] ]**

 **[ World forcibly changed to: [Dragonball Multiverse S] ]**

 **[ Race forcibly changed to: [Saiyan (Elite grade) SS-] ]**

 **[ ERROR. Unable to repair damage to object [Soul]. Attempting countermeasure... SUCCESS ]**

Putting off the ridiculousness that was his new ability. I mean **[Protagonist]** , really? Sure, he had asked to be one but he didn't know there was an actual ability like it.

He also got to keep his memories. Although he had some unpleasant ones, the knowledge about the Dragonball universe would prove priceless.

Dragonball, huh. He knew that story well. Having watched every released episode up to the end of Super, he knew quite a few secrets that he could exploit. Also becoming a Saiyan wasn't half bad. Depending on when he'd be born, it could go both ways. If it was just before Frieza destroyed the planet it wouldn't be that fun.

The voice tiredly sounded once more, interrupting his introspection.

 **"Now go forth, mortal and entertain this great one! I expect much from thee!"**

Blinding light consumed him, and he was no more.

Somewhere, in a grand white mansion suspended in space.

"Ahh, that was tiring! I hate talking like that. I even bit my tongue."

On the big pink bed in one of the rooms, a small girl laid sprawled out, looking exhausted. There was a suspicious looking hole on the side of the door but it was nothing strange. The girl looked to be around 12 years old with long silver hair and large golden eyes. Her petite mouth parted in a wide grin, exposing her teeth.

"That mortal was so interesting. It's so boring here, so I happened to watch as he reincarnated. I wonder how he'll entertain me from now."

Full of expectations for the fun to be had in the future, the girl drifted to sleep.


	5. Rebirth

The first thing Kaley noticed when he regained consciousness, was that he seemed to be floating in some kind of liquid. Was he drowning?!

Slightly panicking, he tried flailing his arms to find his bearings. He tried to open his eyes, but it was as if they were glued shut.

Belatedly, Kaley noticed that he seemed to be breathing the weird liquid, yet there was no discomfort at all. Strangely enough, there was only calm contentment. As he started to calm down, he noticed a sound in the surroundings. A loud rhythmic 'thump' echoed in the space, giving Kaley a very nostalgic feeling.

He tried remembering how exactly he ended up here. Focusing hard, he tried to get past the fog covering his brain, only managing to get a headache. He couldn't remember anything after class had ended on Friday.

He had absolutely no idea what had happened to him. In any case, his headache was getting worse. Maybe he shouldn't have tried to force it.

He could feel the blood rushing to his ears and his head felt like it was splitting apart. His own heart beat loudly in sync with the louder 'thump'. Then the realization hit him.

' _Ahh, that must be another heartbeat...'_ he mused to himself. _'Then that plus my current circumstances can only add up to one thing; I've been reincarnated and this is inside my new mother's womb.'_

Nodding to himself at his sagely conclusion, Kaley felt oddly at ease with his new circumstances. He didn't have much going for him in his old life. The only good thing was his one friend, Claire. He had to admit to himself, that he had a massive, one-sided crush on her, but he was too afraid to confess. If the confession failed and it ruined their friendship, he would've probably killed himself.

 _'Haa. Too late for regrets now.'_ he thought with a sigh, dismissing the depressing tangent he was on.

Suddenly, Kaley's surroundings shook violently and a slight suction started draining the embryonic fluid surrounding him.

 _'Did her water just break?! F*ck, I'm not ready yet!'_

For the first time, he could feel the wall of the womb. It was convulsing and contracting. A great pressure bore down on him as the birthing process commenced.

 _'This isn't gonna be pleasant, is it?'_

All he could feel was great pain all over his body as he was squeezed out. Strangely enough, the birth was very fast. One minute he was in great pain, being pushed through the cervix and the next he was out. It was kind of anticlimactic, really. Kinda like push, plop and boom he was born.

As Kaley's naked skin greeted the hospital air, he was roughly picked up and wrapped in a blanket.

He tried to loudly protest against the rough treatment, but his throat was still full of embryonic fluid and the only thing that came out was a sort of gurgling sound.

"The baby's airways seem to be blocked. Hold on." A gruff male voice spoke to who Kaley presumed was his mother.

A big hand clapped Kaley on the back, discharging the sticky substance. It also hurt like a b*itch! Finally, with his airways clear, Kaley took his first breath in this new life. And despite his own efforts, he let out a very loud wail.

"Congratulations, your highness, It's a baby boy." That same male voice spoke again. He seemed to have a penchant for pointing out the obvious, this guy.

What answered him was a female voice filled with power and confidence.

"No need for such formalities, doctor. I'm nothing but one of King Vegeta's many women." With a self-deprecating chuckle, the female spoke again. "If I didn't happen to become pregnant, I reckon he wouldn't even have remembered my name."

'It sounded like his mother was a mistress. And what's with the strange name? It sounded kind of familiar.'

"He has some strong lungs on him. He's gonna be a fine warrior, just like his mother." Again, that male spoke, now in an ingratiating tone.

"Here's your child, Ms. Steel. I'm just gonna boot up the device and we'll check his power level. I'm sure it'll be quite something."

The Doctor handed Kaley to his mother, who looked down on the infant and frowned.

"What a weak little thing. His features are almost delicate. And why hasn't he opened his eyes?"

 _'Oh right, totally forgot.'_

Kaley opened his eyes.

 _'Huh?'_

There was only blackness before his eyes. He tried blinking a few times. Still the same.

"Oh, his eyes opened! They're a beautiful silver color." the female voice was tinged with pride.

Panic was starting to set in again. It couldn't be, right? His luck couldn't be THAT bad, could it?

"Silver? That's unusual... Huh? They seem to be quite unfocused. Could it be that this child is...?"

The Doctor did something. Kaley could feel a slight draft against his face.

"What do you mean, Doctor? Is there something wrong with my child?" The female voice sounded slightly nervous now.

"It appears that the child is blind, my lady. I'm terribly sorry."

The Doctor's words confirmed Kaley's fears. It wasn't enough that he had a sh*tty past life, no. He had to be f*cking blind in his new one. God truly hated him.

"Ehh, he's blind?" The arms holding Kaley tightened slightly.

"I'm afraid so, my lady. But not to worry. If his power level is at least at the high rank, then he can get restorative surgery or a completely new set of eyes."

Kaley's attention perked at that. He had no idea what this power level was, but he appeared to still have a chance at sight.

A sigh of relief could be heard above Kaley's head, but she did not loosen her arms.

"I'm glad. Seems there's nothing to worry about then"

The power was back in his mother's voice. The complete confidence she seemed to have in here genes was astounding. Kaley hoped her confidence was well placed.

'ding' A bell-like sound, echoed in the room.

"Ahh, the machine is ready. Let's take a look and see what the child's power level is at."

The Doctor received Kaley from his mother's arms and put him inside a crib-like machine. Some clicking noises could be heard as the Doctor pushed a few buttons. Whirring noises came from the machine as it worked.

It was a weird feeling. It felt like when you're walking alone in the dark and you feel like someone's watching you. It was, all in all, a quite unnerving feeling.

The machine ran for a few minutes then came to a stop. Another 'ding' was heard as it did

"Let's see here..." The Doctor's voice sounded as he checked the results.

Whatever. Things couldn't get worse than they already were.

"Huh...? That's weird, did the machine break?" The Doctor mumbled to himself and rubbed his eyes, unsure if he read it correctly.

"Is something the matter, Doctor? What's his power level?"

Kaley's mother sounded slightly anxious now.

Did he seriously just jinx himself? Is the sh*tty start of his new life going to get even sh*ttier?

"Just a minute, my lady. I'm going to run it again. There seems to have been an error."

The machine ran another round and another 'ding was heard. The Doctor checked the results and when he saw the result, he shouted.

"That's impossible! There's no way that's true!" His voice was shaky.

"Doctor, what's wrong? What's my son's power level?" The anxious voice of Kaley's mother was heard, breaking the Doctor out of his thoughts.

"There must be some kind of mistake! The machine must've broken or something. I..."

The Doctor sounded hysterical. It seemed the results really shocked him silly. Kaley hoped it was in a good way.

"Doctor!" She interrupted him and continued in a very commanding voice. " What. Is. His. Power level?"

There was a minute of silence as the tension rose in the room. The Doctor let out a sigh.

"My lady, his power level is..."


	6. Battle Power of 1

"My lady, his power level is...1." His voice was as quiet as a whisper, yet it seemed to boom across the room.

If someone had dropped a needle on the floor at that moment, everyone would've heard it, it was that silent. The heavy atmosphere continued for a few minutes until the Doctor couldn't take it anymore and spoke hesitantly.

"M-my lady...?"

Something told Kaley, that 1 was not a very high power level to have, meaning he had practically no chance of getting his eyes fixed. A chill crept up Kaley's spine as his mother spoke in a very flat tone. This whole conversation was giving him a very bad feeling.

"You mean to say, that the child between a super elite like me, and the strongest Saiyan on the planet, has the measly power level of... 1?"

 _'Wait a minute. Saiyan? Like from Dragon Ball? What the h*ll was going on here.'_

"Y-yes, my lady. I've checked and double checked the machine, and there are no problems with it."

'BANG'

Kaley flinched as the sound of something being smashed rang out. The building shook from the force and dust fell from the ceiling. The Doctor seemed frantic as he spoke.

"C-calm yourself, my lady, you are still weak from giving birth."

However, the Doctor's words seemed to have the opposite of the desired effect as her anger only grew and her voice boomed across the room.

"Weak?! Did you call ME weak? How dare a low-level trash like you, call me, a super elite, weak?!"

'BOOM'

A loud explosion shook the room and Kaley couldn't help but start to wail again. He could hear gurgling sounds and something that sounded like a hand clapping against something.

The sound of the gurgles and claps grew weaker over the course of half a minute. Then came the sound of a body falling to the ground, probably the Doctor's, followed by gasping noises as he drew in fresh air.

Kaley's mother spoke once more, now in a very cold tone.

"I'll forgive your transgression this once. Be sure to not repeat your mistake."

Kaley picked up the sound of rustling clothes. He guessed his mother was getting dressed in her own attire.

"Fuu haa. Fuu haa... M-my lady, you should take more care of yourself. And what about...him?"

The rustling stopped momentarily, then resumed.

"I'm perfectly fine, Doctor. And take that... thing, to the incubation chambers for the growth period, then send it to a low-level planet, like the others."

Her footsteps rang out as she walked out of the room. A familiar pain spread in Kaley's chest after those words. It was a dull ache, like of an old wound starting to hurt once more. A familiar depression settled over him.

'Ahh, guess my fate never changes..'

At least those words confirmed his previous suspicion. He had been reborn into the DBZ Universe. As a Saiyan, child to King freaking Vegeta and this Ms. Steel. Kaley knew what kind of person King Vegeta was, and he was not thrilled at the prospect of having him as a father. And from what he could tell from the conversation earlier, his mother was not a very nice person either. Figures for someone willing to be King Vegeta's mistress.

'Wait a freaking minute! I'm the brother of Vegeta. Holy sh*it! What year is it currently? I hope it's before Vegeta was born because otherwise, I'm probably going to become space debris when the planet blows up.'

"Haaaa"

The Doctor let out a big sigh as he walked over to the scouter crib. He picked Kaley up and settled him in his arms.

"Let's go, little guy. We got to settle you in the incubation chamber, so you can grow big and strong. Let's show your mom your fighting spirit."

And with those words, he walked out of the room with Kaley in his arms.

A five-minute walk later, they arrived in a big room filled with five rows of twenty incubation chambers, most of them occupied. They walked down one of the rows and arrived before an empty one.

"Here we are, little guy, your very own chamber. It's the highest grade, elite-class chamber. It was pre-booked by King Vegeta himself. He either hasn't gotten the news, or he simply didn't care enough to downgrade you to the low-class chamber."

The child was silent in his arms, with his eyes closed. Well, it wasn't like he had expected him to respond to his words. No, he was simply trying to forget what had happened in that room and calm his frazzled nerves. But really, such a poor, unfortunate child this was. Born of two powerhouses with immense talent while his own talent was the worst the planet had ever seen.

Shaking his head, he pressed a few buttons that opened the chamber. He removed the cover and unwrapped the child, placing him in the chamber. After closing the lid, he powered the machine up. From the bottom of the chamber, a greenish liquid started seeping out.

"Now, little guy, you're going to have to breathe the incubation liquid that will soon fill your chamber to the brink. It will help you grow faster and make you big and strong."

To his surprise, the child opened his beautiful, silver eyes and looked straight at him, and nodded. He was flabbergasted. Was this really an infant no older than an hour? As the liquid filled the chamber fully, the child just opened his mouth and took a deep breath, inhaling the liquid then closing his eyes as if to go to sleep.

He observed the child for a few minutes, but after seeing no movements, he gave up and walked down the row to check on the others. He checked on the other children before leaving the room, shutting the light off in the process.

Kaley hewed a sigh of relief as he opened his eyes once more. He still couldn't see anything, but it felt better to have them open. Especially in this tank-like thing. The liquid was cooling on his skin and felt really good.

Finally, the Doctor had left. He seemed to have been staring at Kaley after he inhaled the liquid and closed his eyes. Kaley could feel his gaze. Maybe nodding wasn't the smartest thing he could have done. I mean, an infant nodding in affirmation to a question? Sounds creepy as hell. But seriously, that Doctor was a real chatterbox. He still had a penchant to speak the obvious, though.

 _'Okay, introspection time!'_

 _'I am currently in the DBZ Universe, on planet Vegeta. The year is currently unknown. I have reincarnated as the son of an elite Saiyan and King Vegeta with the power level of 1. It is unknown if I swapped soul with the rightful inhabitant or if I'm an anomaly. It is also unknown if some kind of God had a hand in this. If there was, I'd really wanna kick his ass just about now!'_

Out of nowhere, Kaley got goosebumps and a chill went up his spine. He wondered if someone was cursing him or something. He shrugged the feeling off.

 _'Hmm, back to the topic. Assuming the planet doesn't explode in the next 3 years, I'm going to be sent to a low-level planet somewhere in the North Galaxy, the territory of Frieza. As a low-level planet, it means the highest BP of the strongest organism there, will not be over 1000. If I remember correctly, a medium-level planet is 1000-2500BP. A high-level planet is 2500-7500BP and an elite planet is 7500-15.000BP.'_

'Seeing as my own BP is a measly 1, it would be very difficult to complete my mission and return to Planet Vegeta. Even more so if I happen to land on an outlier.'

An outlier is when the planet exceeds the rating given to it for one reason or another.

' _Not that I want to complete the mission or anything. I'm just speculating. I've never killed anything, so I don't know if I even COULD finish it, given I had the power to do so...'_

Kaley's introspection was interrupted by a loud 'ding' that went off in his mind. Following that was an emotionless voice, with no discernable gender, that spoke in his mind.

 **[ System booting up. 10%...25%...45%...70%...100%...Initializing ]**

His head felt like it would explode as a massive amount of information flooded his mind. He let out a groan as an innumerable amount of calculations and diagrams flashed through it. Then the voice spoke once more.

 **[ Heads Up Display, Activating... 10%... 25%... ]**

 _'What the hell is this some sort of game? Am I dreaming or something?'_

While still incredulous at this turn of events, Kaley waited as the progress bar advanced.

 **[ 100%... Initializing ]**

Then there suddenly was a bunch of bars and icons in his vision. He could almost cry as that was the first thing, except for blackness, that he'd seen in this entire life. In his upper left corner, there was a small Nendoroid-esque picture of what he assumed was himself. Frankly, it was just a baby face with silver eyes and a tuft of white hair.

Under the picture, there were 3 bars. One red, one green and one blue. There was a place for a numerical value on each bar, but currently, it only had illegible symbols instead of numbers. Maybe because it was initializing.

At the bottom of his vision, there were currently 5 small icons, out of which only 2 weren't greyed out. One was 'Inventory', and the other one was 'Quests'. The quest icon was also currently flashing. As an experiment, he clicked on it. Might as well roll with it, he thought. Nothing happened as he did, so he tried pressing it with his mind. This time he managed to open it. Four options appeared in his view: 'New Quests', 'Current Quests', 'Failed Quests' and 'Completed Quests'. The option for new quests was flashing so he clicked it.

 **[ Tutorial Quest 1/? - What's this, can I eat it? ]**

 **[ Condition for Completion: Learn ? before ? ]**

 **[ Condition for Failure: Death, ? ]**

 **[ Reward: ? ]**

 **[ Penalty: ? ]**

 **[ Accept Y/N? ]**

 _'A nonsensical quest popped up. What's with that quest name? It gives way too little information. What a sh*tty game this is. Well, setting that aside, calculating the risk to this quest wasn't very hard. I mean, it did say 'Tutorial Quest', so it can't be THAT hard. So I'll boldly choose Y.'_

And just like that, the window disappeared. Kind of anticlimactic, really.

Shifting his view to the 2nd icon that was available, Kaley clicked it.

A window with gridlines came into view. It looked to have around 100 slots and there was also a slowly spinning 3d figure of himself on the left side of the screen. He guessed he could just drag equipment or the sort to the 3d figure and he'd automatically equip them.

In his inventory, only 2 of the slots were occupied. One was called 'Shop bundle' and the other one was called 'Welcome Gift'.

He opened the shop bundle and was once again greeted by the voice.

 **[ Purchased abilities activating... Integrating... 10%... ]**

A pain, unlike anything he'd ever felt before, coursed through his mind, as a flood of memories entered.

"WAHHH!" He could do nothing but wail in pain.

 **[ 25%... ]**

Scenes of his death flashed before his eyes, along with the respective emotions. His conversation with Claire, the cheerful mood he was in after they made the promise to study together. His nonchalance as he crossed the road. The despair at seeing the oncoming truck. The feeling of the rain as it plastered his battered body. He felt it all.

 **[ 50%... ]**

Memories of his time in the void entered his head. The calm contentment of that embrace. The feeling of just drifting for what seemed like ages. The abrupt awakening as he was tormented by the soul-erosion. He relived them all.

 **[ 75%... ]**

And last but not least, the knowledge of his conversation with the Goddess(?) and his own irresponsible wish. All up until the time the light consumed him and he was sent... here. He knew it all.

 **[ 100%... Initializing ]**

He could barely get out one sentence that fully represented how he currently felt:

"F*ck you, ⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛!"

In the dark of the incubation room, a light sprung to life, illuminating the row upon row of incubation chambers. The light, a small white orb could be seen floating next to Kaley's chamber.

 **[ Really, what an ungrateful kid.** **To think he was this dense, I feel sorry for that one.** **Hmph! ]**

Suddenly, the light burst and scattered into particles, once again flooding the room in darkness. And with that, he was alone again.


	7. Those Left Behind 2: Regrets?

In an area of shady reputation, among run-down apartment buildings, there was a certain street. That street, littered with various piles of refuse and trash, gave off the pungent aroma typical to the area, a mix of vomit, cigarette smoke and week old garbage. Along the street, there was the occasional dingy pub and on the corner a small, run-down supermarket. Among the pedestrians minding their own business, droves of drunks could be seen, hanging around under the eaves, taking cover from the rain. Sirens could constantly be heard in the distance and the dark alleyways looked anything but inviting.

In one of the less shabby pubs, a scuffle could be heard as vulgar curses and loud noises of breaking furnishing rang out. Through its door, someone who seemed to be its bouncer walked out, dragging a scraggly man with a vomit-soaked shirt behind him. The bouncer was a big, pale-skinned man of around 190cm, his bulging muscles visible under the tight shirt he was wearing. Unceremoniously, he threw the man in one of the refuse piles nearest the door and walked back into the pub, brushing his hands off. All in all, it was just another rainy day in the dreary London slums.

The man just lay there, rain pelting his back while some unknown fluid from the pile further soiled his front. After a minute the man began moving again. With a grunt of effort, he tried standing back up, immediately falling down again as the world seemed to be spinning rapidly. After a few more minutes of heroic struggle, the man began making his way home, not forgetting to kick any beggar that tried to illegally solicit funds from him.

After half an hour of trodding and swaying, the man somehow made it back to his house, a run-down, single-story brick house. With fumbling hands, he unlocked the rusted, iron gate and walked inside. Inside, the garden that lined the tiled way up to his house, was fully overgrown with weeds. It had a lone tree, a thing with a grey color and bare branches, looking dead and lifeless. On one of its branches, the remains of an old swing could be seen hanging from it, only fastened with one end of a rope.

With unsteady steps, the man walked down the path, coming to a stop as he got a glimpse of the tree. Muttering under his breath, he said.

"Need to cut that damn thing down, it's blocking my sunlight." After saying such, he walked up to the front door, unlocking it.

The inside of the house was just as dreary as the outside. Only the bare minimum of furniture could be seen. A small table with two chairs in the kitchen. A single leather reclining chair and a medium sized tv in the large living room. In his bedroom, a single bed with an empty vodka bottle on the nightstand. Clothes were piled in a heap and everything was covered in a layer of dust, just as if it hadn't been cleaned in quite a while.

Kicking off his soaked boots, the man walked toward the kitchen. As he entered the bare, cold room, he stopped in his tracks, bewildered. After taking a moment to process, he turned his head away from the kitchen and raised his voice.

"Kaley! Get your ass over here! Where the hell is sup..."

Stopping mid-sentence, he finally remembered what had happened. He walked over the cupboard and took out a fresh bottle of brandy and headed for the living room and just before he propped himself into the chair, he seemed to remember something and stopped. Lifting the neck of his shirt to his nose, he took a whiff... and promptly had to repress a gag, recoiling from the stench.

The pungent mix of week-old sweat, vomit and the fluids that accumulate at the bottom of a dumpster assaulted his nose. It was truly an ungodly odor. After coughing for a minute while his eyes teared, he quickly stripped his clothes and before entering the shower, he made a mental note to burn them.

After returning to the living room, now clothed in a stained whitish T-shirt and a checkered pair of boxer shorts, he plopped into the recliner, opened the bottle and took a big swig.

"I'm too sober for this shit."


End file.
